Holy Roman Empire

"When facing difficulties, seek out your elders," a principle applicable across all times and cultures, spared not even a prince. Unfortunately, Wilhelm was currently being scrutinized, and although a telegram asking for help could solve most problems, it also meant that he failed his assessment. To become a qualified monarch, one must first possess the ability to tackle difficulties; asking for help could hardly prove one's own capability. The development of the Southeast Asia region was important to be sure, but in Franz's eyes, it was obviously not as significant as cultivating a responsible son. As for the colonies, if economic growth was slow, then let it be slow; it was far more worrisome if the economy progressed rapidly to the point where it became too big to control. After all, the most distinctive feature of the Shinra colonial system was its exceptional military prowess. Given money and an industrial system, it would be difficult to ensure the absence of ambition. To prevent such a situation, the Vienna Government had planned the development direction for the colonies under Shinra from the start. The priority was to develop economic agriculture and mining, to provide industrial raw materials for the domestic market; the development of light industry was secondary. As for heavy industry and emerging technology industries, those were entirely nonexistent. Whatever was lacking could be purchased from the domestic market; there was no need to waste resources by redeveloping them. In fact, there was no need for deliberate restrictions; without domestic support, the talent reserves of the colonies were simply insufficient to sustain the technology industry. With the strategy for overseas sub-states in place, the Vienna Government reduced many restrictions on the colonies, especially after the prince took over as governor. There was pretty much complete hands-off management. Unfortunately, the times had changed. The second industrial revolution was drawing to a close, and the threshold for industrialization had risen. Every time he thought about this, Wilhelm envied his brother who had gone to Austrian Central America. Although they also lacked talent, striking with a pick could always uncover some. Thanks to his status as a prince and Shinra's renowned reputation, he was still very attractive to talents from American countries. Often, there was no real cost involved; even just empty promises could "cheat" a bunch of people into coming over to serve. Although these people varied greatly in ability and were far inferior to Shinra natives in professional knowledge, they were still considered "top talent" in the colonies. By poaching talent, Austrian Central America had laid the foundations of industrialization in a few short years. In contrast, Austrian Nanyang had a much harder time. Wilhelm wanted to poach talent as well, but there simply wasn't any ground to break! Looking over the entire Asian continent, not one industrial nation could be found; including Japan and the Far Eastern Empire, they were all just taking the first steps towards industrialization and were severely lacking in talent. Wilhelm had placed great hopes on the Lan Fang Autonomous Province, thinking that with its decent economy, there should be a good talent reserve. Indeed, this was the case. Upon arriving in Lanfang, Wilhelm, with his status as a prince, was immediately celebrated. After all, Shinra had no struggles for direct lineage, and internal royal family strife was minimal. As a prince, one either became a feudal lord or took on an important role upon returning to the country. Regardless of the situation, the future was bright. To switch allegiance was completely risk-free. Despite decades of stability, the crisis awareness of Southeast Asia's Chinese had not faded. When a substantial leg to lean on came knocking, naturally, they would cozy up. Each of the local leading families, without exception, sent their direct-line descendants to serve under Wilhelm, significantly reinforcing his ranks. They were indeed talents, but unfortunately, all were misplaced. If one was looking for economic talents or bureaucrats, it was easy to catch a large number, from the grassroots to the higher echelons. As for industrialization, that was out of the question. In this world that favored literature over science and engineering, Lanfang's capitalists had to hire technical personnel from Shinra at a high price. Of course, it wasn't that there were absolutely no technical talents; at least there were workers for the basic industries. Road and water conservancy infrastructure projects could still be carried out with the local reserve of talent. So, since succeeding as Governor of Southeast Asia, Wilhelm had initiated projects that were mostly centered around infrastructure such as roads and water conservancy. He didn't need to make arrangements for these projects personally. To start a project, he only had to appoint a few descendants of major families to take charge, and craftsmen would show up at their doorstep immediately. As for how these craftsmen were acquired, Wilhelm, having learned from Franz, never concerned himself with that. He simply looked at the results. However, establishing a university was a different story, unless he wanted to found an institution focusing on liberal arts or military studies because otherwise, it would definitely be impossible to gather enough teachers. ... After hesitating for a moment, Rodriguez carefully answered, "Your Highness, aside from Professor Drake accepting your invitation, the others have chosen to reject it. However, they have recommended their own students." This once again proved that ideals belonged to the minority. Even as a Prince, Wilhelm personally wrote invitation letters, but he was only able to persuade one professor. Recommending their own students, in a way, was merely giving face to Wilhelm as the Prince. Keep in mind, Wilhelm's invitation letters were not issued indiscriminately. He did not bother inviting established individuals who had already made a name for themselves, only newcomers in their fields needing opportunities. Unfortunately, only a minority truly dedicated their lives to education and scientific research; most were just ordinary people. Those who could become professors were already of a certain age. With families to support, asking them to leave their comfortable homeland to strive in overseas colonies was asking too much. Of course, these were not the most important factors. The key issue was that elites willing to leave the European Continent had already been poached by the earlier Nobility. Just look at the African Continent; beginning just as impoverished, the region now hosts over a dozen specialized universities, and the quality of education is not low. On the surface, these universities were established by the Vienna Government, but in reality, they were largely sponsored by the local Nobility. Not only did they sponsor funds, but more importantly, they sponsored people. Besides the teachers extracted from Europe, a portion of the teaching staff were directly descendants of the local Nobility. This is also the national situation of Shinra. The Germany Region has a tradition of valuing education, and the second generation of the wealthy with ample resources generally have a higher level of education. By comparison, the Southeast Asia region lacks this advantage. It's not that the local Nobility are incompetent; rather, the distribution of Aristocratic Lords in the Austrian Southeast Asia was too smooth, resulting in fewer feudal Lords. With a smaller base, the chance of producing talents in science and engineering became even slimmer. And if such talents ever emerged, they were cherished gems, already well-positioned. "Alas!" Wilhelm sighed helplessly, "It seems that poaching talents can only wait for an economic crisis!" Under Franz's influence, none of his sons had the habit of irrationally venting their anger. The battle for talent raged daily in Shinra; aside from his status as a Prince, Wilhelm had no advantage. On this issue, there was no point in expecting the Nobility to give him face. It wouldn't matter if it was a Prince or even an Emperor intervening; it was about survival of the fittest. "Your Highness, actually establishing a university now is not out of the question. Although we lack a sufficient number of teachers in science and engineering, other fields are not short of personnel. They can be dispatched to study domestically for six months and then take up their posts. With the special circumstances of the Austrian South Seas Region, we hardly need to follow domestic standards to establish universities here. We can simply downgrade and set them up as technical institutes. With Professor Drake onboard, along with the students recommended by others, it's entirely possible to build the framework for science and engineering. The cultivation of basic talents in science and engineering isn't an issue. Anyway, with no competition around, even if the quality of teaching is slightly lacking, we won't be short of students. If we wish to increase international influence, we can also offer basic military education. With the reputation of the Empire army, we won't lack international students enrolling." Rodriguez suggested. No matter what the quality of education was like, the establishment of the first university in Southeast Asia was in itself a major political achievement. For Wilhelm, who was in the midst of an assessment, this achievement was definitely a huge bonus. Since it was a bonus, the bigger the better. Although Shinra did not advocate the internationalization of education, if a university had international influence, it was the cherry on top. Luckily, the timing for Southeast Asian University couldn't have been more perfect. Due to its geographical location, it naturally held an advantage, not to mention the boost from Shinra, which gave it a tremendous influence on East Asian students. If one had the audacity, one could even declare it to be Asia's number one university. As for Tokyo University, which was established earlier, just ignore it. After all, East Asia was in the phase where "monks from afar can recite scriptures well" – Tokyo University didn't have the same reputation as it would in later years, and its international status might not even be as high as some technical institutions. For the "Southeast Asian University" that was still in preparation, getting the name out was half the battle. As for the issue of educational quality, that could easily be made up for later. To put it plainly, attending university took several years. It was fully possible to start teaching classes while simultaneously bolstering the teaching staff. As long as the quality of the graduates was up to standard, who could say Southeast Asian University wasn't up to par? Wilhelm asked uncertainly, "Do you mean that if we can't get the teaching quality, we make it up with student quality? But is that viable?" Although Rodriguez did not state it directly, mentioning "no lack of students" twice was clearly the best hint. "Your Highness, good schools can produce bad students, and bad schools can also have good students. If such a division occurs with the same teaching resources, it obviously lies with the students themselves. The textbooks we use and the management model can all be completely adopted from domestic universities. As long as the quality of the students we recruit is high and they are willing to delve deeply, even if we are lacking in teaching staff, it won't be a big problem." Cheating might exist, sure! After all, poor teaching quality does affect students' learning. But during this era, having an opportunity for higher education was extremely difficult. One more university meant hundreds, if not thousands, more chances. Through this winnowing process, among so many students, some would surely stand out as gold. We don't aim for prodigies; it would be a success if some could reach or even slightly fall short of the domestic average level. After pondering for a while, Wilhelm nodded, "Let's set up the framework first. I'll communicate with the Ministry of Education to choose a location for the university. You'll be responsible for teacher recruitment and subsequent publicity. If the Ministry of Education cannot send someone significant to serve as the Chancellor, then I will personally step in. To ensure the first enrollment is successful, we must build the momentum." Moral integrity and such were never worth mentioning in politics. For the sake of political achievements, Wilhelm was all in, even prepared to become the Chancellor himself. … Tokyo, with the arrival of the Tsarist Government representative, the Russian Embassy case entered a new phase. Under the strong suppression of the Japanese Government, Tokyo finally returned to normal. Against the backdrop of the organizers being jailed one by one, the civil protests and demonstrations in Tokyo also ceased. … Inside the Holy Roman Empire Embassy in Tokyo, Envoy Jose put down his coffee and asked carefully, "Liu, are you sure that releasing a few students will help the Empire expand its trade share in the Far Eastern region?" As time passed, more and more Chinese students, who were caught in the crossfire, became involved. The first to be unfortunate, Wang Decheng, was no longer alone. The more people involved, the bigger the forces behind the scenes. Originally only planning to act as a go-between, President Liu ultimately was persuaded and took on the role of a lobbyist. Drawing on his understanding of the Holy Roman Empire, President Liu was well aware that discussing whether the arrested students were wrongfully accused was meaningless. The best way to ask for help was through interest. The direct giving of gifts was too outdated; with the integrity of Shinra bureaucrats, they had always wiped clean the gifts from strangers without doing any work. Operating covertly would require a lot of time and carry the risk of exposure. Neither the Chinese Association nor President Liu himself could afford such risks, even if the backing was very appealing. If giving gifts was ineffective, then offering political achievements would be the next best approach. This was something all bureaucrats, big or small, loved. After all, with the families of the students studying abroad exerting effort, all he needed to do was to facilitate the process as a favor. Indeed, as soon as he heard about the opportunity to increase trade shares, Envoy Jose showed immediate interest. It was merely a matter of releasing a few unfortunate souls; it was nothing substantial. Not to mention that they weren't the actual perpetrators, even if they had been, as long as the interest was substantial enough, there would be room for negotiation. "Your Excellency Envoy, the fathers of these students are officials of the Far Eastern Empire Government, and their families have significant influence in the Far Eastern Empire. By getting them out now, you will become their lifesaving benefactor. We Chinese value gratitude and know to return favors; you'd gain not only their friendship but that of their influential families as well. It may be difficult to expand your country's market share in the Far Eastern region, but expanding the market share of a few specified foreign firms there will not be an issue at all. It is said that, affected by the tense relations between Japan and Russia, the Far Eastern Empire has recently put forth a military procurement contract worth millions, and the buyer has not yet been determined. What do you think..." Before President Liu could finish, Envoy Jose's serious face broke into a smile, "If this order can be secured by the Empire, I think there would be no problem." There was no helping it; among envoys, there are different levels of influence. As the Envoy in Japan, Jose clearly did not have the standing to be compared with envoys stationed in Britain or Russia. If that was all, then so be it, but unfortunately, Japan was too poor to allow him the chance to achieve any political performance. Had it not been for the explosion of the Russian Embassy case, he would still be the insipid Shinra Envoy without any chance to showcase himself. Jose could have never anticipated that he too would have his day of favor. First came the Russian Embassy case, giving him the opportunity to make political gains, and now a substantial military procurement deal came knocking at his door. A million taels of silver might not seem like a huge amount, but the profit in arms trade was enormous. This deal alone could yield hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in profit, and if one included subsequent ammunition purchases, the profit could even exceed the current procurement contract. Securing this order and presenting it to the military would not only garner him a political achievement but also win the military's favor. For Envoy Jose, who aspired for a career in civil service, the significance here was extraordinary. As a result, he viewed the uninvited guest, President Liu, in a much more favorable light. With a certain answer at hand, President Liu also breathed a sigh of relief. He promptly assured, "Your Excellency Envoy, please rest assured. We will do our utmost to facilitate this deal, but it will take some time to operate. Could you perhaps release the individuals first?" It was urgent. The trial overseen by the International Court had already begun, and if he didn't secure their release soon, they would end up appearing in court. Envoy Jose smiled slightly, "Don't worry, I still have influence over the International Court. As merely a group of naïve students coerced into participating in the protests, they have no connection to the Russian Embassy case. Releasing them prematurely might lead to external speculation. It would be better to wait and have the International Court prove their innocence." He wasn't boasting; as a Shinra Envoy, Jose indeed had the ability to affect the outcome of the International Court's rulings. A look at the composition of the International Court showed that most of its members were from the European Continent. Perhaps asking them to conduct a trial against their principles was something some might refuse, but letting go of a few small fry was not an issue. Seeing President Liu hesitate upon realizing the man before him would not act until he saw advantages, he held back his words.